Muslim massacre accusation, a fabrication - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 13:10 GMT]
Responding to the accusation by Colombo that during the Muthur clashes Liberation Tigers abducted and killed Muslim civilians, Political Head of Liberation Tigers, S.P.Thamilchelvan, in a media interview, said that the accusation is a total fabrication by Colombo which is trying desperately to divert the attention from its tenuous military position in Trincomalee naval base.
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Police order Pesalai civilians to leave their houses

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 12:16 GMT]
All Tamil families residing in Ward No: 01 of Pesalai in Mannar district Sunday sought refuge elsewhere in the area following the instruction of the Pesalai Police that they should leave their houses immediately. The instruction was issued following a grenade attack on the Pesalai Police Station located in Ward No: 01.
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Facilitators to ensure GoSL reciprocate - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 10:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Peace Secretariat, in a press release issued after the meeting with the Norwegian facilitators, said that the LTTE wished to reinforce its commitment to the CFA and the peace process while at the same time expecting the GoSL to fulfill its CFA obligations relating to military occupation of a people denying them access to their habitats, farm lands and fishing. "The Special Peace Envoy and the Norwegian Ambassador have fully comprehended the situation from the perspective of the Mavilaru villagers and assured that they would proceed with the arrangement of a committee to look into the grievances of the Mavilaru villagers," the press release said.
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Colombo bombards Maavilaru, SLMM Head narrowly escapes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 09:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials, Liberation Tigers Political Head S. Elilan and civilian representatives who went to Maavilaru site to re-open the closed sluice gates came under Sri Lanka Army artillery attack, initial reports said. Dozens of artillery shells were fired. Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer is in direct contact with Royal Norwegian Government and Colombo discussing the latest hostile attacks. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera had ealier assured Norwegian Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer that attacks would be ceased. The re-opening of sluice gates is blocked by the new escalation of attacks.
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Facilitator to ensure humanitarian action, sluice gates to be opened

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 06:15 GMT]
Norwegian Special Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer has assured the LTTE leadership that the facilitators would act, within three weeks, to ensure equitable humanitarian assistance as the Tiger leadership told the facilitator that the LTTE would convince the Maavilaru Tamils to re-open the closed sluice gates. The Tigers also said that the Sri Lanka's direct military actions such as air-strikes, artillery attacks and "socalled limited operations" would be regarded as Declaration of War.
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Two civilians shot dead in Jaffna district

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 04:25 GMT]
Two civilians were shot to death by unidentified gunmen in separate killings in Jaffna district Saturday night, sources in Jaffna said. Thiagarajah Rathumilan, 30, from Uduvil Road, Manipay was shot dead at 7:30 p.m. and Arumugam Uthayasooriyan, 43, driver attached to the local Pradeshya Sabah, from Thambachetti in Vadamaradchy was killed at 8:00 p.m.
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UNP accuses Rajapakse Govt for acting on JHU, JVP advice

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 17:38 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) in a statement issued Friday accused the Rajapakse government in Colombo for acting on the advice of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in ordering a military operation to capture LTTE controlled Maavil Aaru area "within 24 hours," disregarding the views of veteran military officers. After six days of fighting and suffering heavy casualties, the army has not yet reached the area, the UNP said. The UNP did not participate in the 6th All Parties Conference (APC) held Friday evening. Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse also holds the military portfolio as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of Sri Lanka.
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Water war

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 16:33 GMT]
"Defensive attacks" launched by Liberation Tigers four days ago with the surprise artillery attacks on Trincomalee naval base, and the sweeping attacks on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and positions in Muthur and southern sector of Trincomalee, were interpreted as the Tiger response to the three-month-long humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Muthur East, where 30 000 civilians were forced to live as Internally Displaced People (IDPs). Supply of drinking water, one of the most basic needs, emerged as a critical issue as wells dried in the hottest spell as August approached, says Trincomalee Parliamentarian K. Thurairatnasingham.
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Shells fired in Pesalai, 4000 civilians flee homes

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 15:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police and Army fired shells towards civilian settlements in Pesalai, Mannar Saturday around 7:50 p.m. after a grenade attack that wounded two policemen at the police post in Pesalai. Four thousand persons have sought refuge at Pesalai Our Lady of Victory church.
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Killings take place to intimidate Tamil population - Sampanthan tells Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 14:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army was killing innocent Tamil civilians to intimidate Tamil population said the leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Trincomalee district parliamentarian, R. Sampanthan, in an urgent letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse Saturday. The slaying of a leading Tamil businessman Kaththamuthu Perinaparasa was committed to intimidate the Tamil civilian population who have lived in the area for generations and centuries, said Mr. Sampanthan.
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Sri Lanka Army kills Tamil businessman in Kiliveddy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 13:42 GMT]
A Tamil businessman in Kiliveddy village in Muttur division was shot and killed by the Sri Lanka Army Friday evening. SLA soldiers shot the businessman around 6:30 p.m. when he closed his business and approached the main road. The victim, Kaththamuthu Perinaparasa, 65, had been a leading businessmen in the village, civil sources said.
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"Objective accomplished, forces returned to CFA positions" - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 11:04 GMT]
The militay spokesman of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Irasaiah Ilanthiayan, told TamilNet that the LTTE troops, by midnight Friday, returned to their original positions as per February 22, 2002 Ceasefire Agreement. 32 LTTE fighters, including a Lieutinent Colonel and another senior cadre of the Tigers were killed in the operation that excerted a military pressure to Colombo's military offensive to resolve a civilian dispute, Mr. Ilanthirayan said. Two SLN Dvora Fast Attack Crafts (FACs) were destroyed and sunk, 3 boats were damaged. Mortars, Light Machine Guns and ammunitions were seized.
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SLA shoots dead 5 intruders near Muhamalai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 10:47 GMT]
Five men who attempted to infiltrate from LTTE controlled area into Jaffna district through the Forward Defense Lines (FDLs) near Muhamalai have been shot dead by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Kodikamam Police said.
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Fighting ceases in Muthur, ICRC resumes food supply

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 08:02 GMT]
Fighting ceased between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Trincomalee and humanitarian agencies resumed food supplies to 18 000 Muslim and Sinhala refugees staying in 5 different schools in Kantalai and 15 000 Tamil refugees staying in Kiliveddy. Initial reports from Muttur said the LTTE fighters returned to their positions Friday. No official comments were available from the LTTE or Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) regarding the military situation. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Head Major General Ulf Henricsson was on his way to Muthur and Norwegian Special Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer was en route to Kilinochchi via Jaffna.
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15 000 Tamil people stranded in Killiveddy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 07:55 GMT]
About fifteen thousand Tamil people gathered in Killiveddy village along Muttur-Batticaloa road in government controlled area in the Muttur division Friday to seek safer places to escape from aerial strike and artillery fire now being conducted by the Sri Lankan armed forces. The civilians have fled from their villages, Manalsenai, Mallikaitivu, Menkamam, Bharathipuram, Thanganagar, Kanguveli, Palathadichchenai, and Iruthayapuram, civil sources said.
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SLAF bombs Verukal ferry

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 13:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers Friday evening around 5:00 p.m. bombed and destroyed the ferry linking Liberation Tigers controlled Vakarai mainland with Trincomalee south, civilian sources said.
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Shelling, troop movement in Batticaloa, 3 killed

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 11:32 GMT]
As fighting rages in Trincomalee district, to the south, Sri Lanka Army troops Friday attacked Liberation Tigers’ positions in northern part of Batticaloa district. Following five hours of intense shelling, that killed 3 members of a family, SLA troops and paramilitaries advanced towards LTTE positions in Panichchankerni before being beaten back. Meanwhile, a significant number of Sri Lanka Army troops in Batticaloa town have been withdrawn for deployment in Trincomalee and their duties were being assigned to the troops from the elite Special Task Force (STF). All leave has been cancelled for police forces.
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Sinhala villagers block ICRC food convoy to Muttur

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 11:09 GMT]
A food convoy led by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) Friday morning from Trincomalee town to Muttur to supply food materials to civilians displaced due to the fighting between SLA and LTTE was stopped at Kantalai by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on Friday afternoon around 1 p.m. The SLA refused permission for the convoy to proceed along Kantalai-Allai road to Muttur citing security reasons, ICRC sources in Colombo said.
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Shell hits fleeing civilians, 5 killed

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 09:15 GMT]
Five Muslim refugees who were fleeing the fighting in Muttur were killed when a shell fell near them Friday around 2:00 p.m. at 64th mile post, Pachchanoor along the A 15 Main Road, civilian sources said. Hundreds of people, with white flags, were lined up at the 64th mile post when the shell fell near them. 2000 Muslim civilians are already on their way towards Kantalai, civil sources said. More than 30 civilians in Muttur area have been killed during the past 3 days.
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Another 5 civilans killed in artillery fire on Muttur school

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 08:17 GMT]
Five Muslim civilians were killed in artillery fire that hit a school in Thoppur. The civilian victims were about to leave the Al Hamra Muslim Vidyalayam when artillery shells began hitting civilian areas, according to civilians who have fled the area. 22 civilians were killed Thursday in indiscrimate artillery fire.
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